condition but if ever he were a liar he is a liar in this and God will judg him and his instruments for bringing up this evil report upon the good Land which he hath given his people Beloved be not discouraged by this slander from looking after this heavenly Canaan as the Children of Israel were from entring into the earthly Canaan when the Spies that went to search the land had spoken evil of it to them for as Caleb said to them the same I say to you The Land is an exceeding good Land I mean now the state into which Christ hath brought believers is even in this World a joyful state You shall see how it was prophecied of in the Old Testament that it should be so Psal 67. read vers 1 2. where he speaks of the coming of this Freedom God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us Selah That thy way may be known upon earth thy saving health among all nations and what follows why vers 3 4 5. Let the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee O let the nations be glad and sing for joy there 's the joy that it brings with it So Isa 35. 10. this chapter is to he understood of Gospel Freedom and Salvation and mark what Joy here is now The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Obj. But where can you shew us the people in the New Testament that live so comfortably and joyfully by this Freedom and that in this World Why turn to Rom. 5. 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoyce in hope of the glory of God and vers 10 11. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life And not only so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have received the attenement Obj. But it may be they were a people that met with no great afflictions if they had it would have spoiled their joy tho they were in this Freedom Well for that I 'll give you a full Scripture see 1 Pet. 1. These were scattered abroad by persecution vers 1. They had manifold temptations vers 6. And in v. 7. the Apostle speaks of the tryal of their Faith by fire Yet in vers 8. how comfortable they were for all this In whom tho now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Sirs you that are out of this Freedom are hindred by it from abundance of joy you don't know what true joy and true comfort is without it 5. It is good to make us taste the sweetness that is in the ways of God 't was the Spouse of Christ the redeemed company that uttered that in Cant. 2. 3. I sat down under his shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste Duties Ordinances are sapless things without this but they are refreshing yea ravishing things with it What made David say that a day in Gods Courts was better than a thousand otherwhere 't was because he was in this Freedom Why did the Lord call his Ordinances that should be under the Gospel A feast of fat things a feast of wine on the lees of fat things full of marrow of wine on the lees well fined Isa 25. 6. But because he knew they would be so to Souls that should be brought into this Freedom Oh this is that which will make a Prayer sweet and a good Sermon sweet and a Sacrament sweet and Grace and the Exercise of it sweet You that are in the Bondage of sins may come and hear precious truths but you cannot tell what is in them for savour and relish that Bondage hath put your mouths quite out of taste as I may say to you there 's nothing so sweet as that which is most bitter and that is sin if your palat were not vitiated by this Bondage you would call it as the Scripture calls it viz. The gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity Acts 8. 23. 6. This Freedom is good to make us spiritually useful Indeed one that hath it not may be useful and very useful for earthly respects and if he should be taken away by death there might be a great miss of him the family might want him or the Parish may want him But spiritually useful such a one is not nor can be any otherwise then as a wooden leg can be useful to the body which tho it helps it a little yet 't is but outwardly it hath none of that life or motion that the true members have But now they whom Christ hath made free oh what a deal they are good for upon a spiritual account they are useful persons to bring up a Family for God they are good for the Souls of their Relations You that are out of Christ you may be good for the bodies of your Children you may be good to provide them Meat and Drink and Cloaths and to take care of them when any of them fall sink that they may not want attendance or the like or you may be good to train them up in a civil way and to lay up for them what you can for a Portion in this World or to put them to a good Trade or help them to as rich a match as you can and in these kind of things your usefulness to them is at its journeys end As for the poor Souls of your Children you forget them because you never rememberd your own it may be you 'l say to your Children sometimes you must be a good boy or a good girl and there 's all the good counsel that they shall have of you but alas you take no care to tell them which way they must be good indeed and truly if God should take you away from them and leave them Fatherless and Motherless their outward man would miss you sadly it may be but their Souls would not you were never good for them but they who are in this Freedom are good for the Souls of their Family And beloved they are very useful persons to promote a good work when they see it would tend much to the Glory of God to have it carried on and to take occasions and opportunities of speaking to others about everlasting concernments and to mourn for the sins of the times and places in which they live and to stand in the gap when the Wrath of God is breaking in upon a Nation and when God takes away one of these oh what a miss there is of them and what a loss 't is upon the best account If God had pleased a hundred wicked men might have been better spared than one of these The least of these
comes by Christ 4. After what manner this Freedom is in Christ 5. I shall make Application To the 1. When this Freedom that is in Christ did begin to be of force I answer Immediately upon the fall of mankind It is a great mistake to think that this Freedom did not begin to be of force till Christ came in the flesh If that were so then all that died before that time would have died in their sins 'T is true when Christ came there were some things about this Freedom that were not before As 1. It was more clearly manifested They before us had it in shadows and types and figures the deliverance of the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt and then a long time after out of the bondage of Babylon did point at this and all the ceremonial Worship and Sacrifices did look this way signifying that there was one to come that should redeem them to God by his Blood and all the good and benefit of those things that were then observed in those Ministrations lay only in this that they did lead them to Christ who was held forth in them tho in a more dark and obscure manner Yea but when Christ came this Freedom was brought unto light for then he appeared who was the Substance of all and then when the substance came the shadows ceased 2. It was more largely extended Before this Freedom was kept within the bounds of the Jewish Nation Psal 147. 19 20. 'T was a great priviledge then to be one of that People because salvation was of the Jews and all the rest of the World were Strangers and Foreigners But when Christ came then the other Nations poor Heathen and Gentiles had this Salvation sent to them The Lord now makes his way to be known upon earth and his saving health among all nations But for all this you must know that this Freedom was in force ever since the fall for then God made the Promise of sending Jesus Christ viz. That the seed of the woman should bruise the serpents head Gen. 3. 15. and all that were saved were saved in the way of looking to that promised Seed though he was not to come into the World till the fulness of time I must needs desire you to take notice of four things from hence That this Freedom hath been of force since the Fall As 1. That persons not living in the days wherein Christ was upon Earth is no hindrance at all to their eternal Salvation for many are saved both before his coming in the Flesh and since his ascending into Heaven who never saw him in his bodily presence I confess it would have been a very desirable thing to have seen our dear and blessed Saviour here in our Nature and to have had the priviledge to have conversed with him about the things of the kingdom of God and to have heard him that spake as never man spake But we are hindred neither from Grace nor Glory for the want of this we may be sanctified without it and we may be saved without it As for sanctification many that did so see him did remain unsanctified and People were not converted by the Humane Nature of Christ but by the Divine Power and Spirit that dwelt in him Joh. 6. 63. And as to salvation that 's obtained not by beholding Christ with an eye of Flesh but with an eye of Faith and they who have that eye here 's their comfort Though they never saw Christ upon Earth they shall see him in Heaven If thou hadst seen him upon Earth thou wouldst have seen him in the form of a servant in a poor and mean condition for then he came to humble himself and to be of no reputation but 't will be another manner of sight to see him in Heaven to behold his glory there Joh. 17. 24. 2. That there were Believers and as great Believers in the days of the Old Testament as there are in the New Believing was the way to Salvation then as well as now Because this Freedom by Christ did not then begin when Christ came in the Flesh therefore you must think that Faith in Christ did not then begin neither Believing was the old and the only way to Heaven ever since the Covenant of Works was broken all in pieces by Adam's Transgression Indeed there have been more Believers since the times of the New Testament than formerly because the Gospel hath been propagated further but there were as true and as great Believers before as you may see Heb. 11. where the Faith of Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and the rest is recorded and propounded as an Example to us And if there were such eminent Believers then how shall we answer it if we be Unbelievers now who have greater helps for our Faith than they had It should much stir us up to believe to consider what times we live in how many things we have to help our Faith of that they had they had the Promises of Christ made but we have them fulfilled they were fain to spell out Christ in a heap of Ceremonies but we may read him in his own Story 3. Take notice of the wonderful Virtue that is in Christ such a Virtue as reaches from the beginning of the World to the end of it You see his Freedom was of force in the first Generation and so it shall be to the last You know that Christ said when the woman that had the bloody Issue touched him I perceive that virtue is gone out of me But Oh what a deal of virtue is there gone out from Christ in this respect that he hath been the Redeemer of Souls from the entrance of Time and will be so till Time shall be no more Things may be very precious when they are made and for a while after as cordial Waters and curious Ointments and costly Perfumes but they won't always keep their Virtue and especially if they stand open it will not be long before they be corrupted but Jesus Christ is such an excellent Cordial and such an excellent Ointment that tho he hath been so long standing open for the use of every comer to him yet he hath not lost any thing of his Virtue or Savour he is as refreshing and as sweet still as evet he was You find in Solomon's time in the Old Testament how he speaks in Cant. 1. 3. Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth therefore do the virgins love thee What a savour Christ sent forth to the People of God then and in 1 Pet. 2. 7. in the times of the New Testament still Christ held his Virtue he was precious to them that believed and so he is still A Believer can be refreshed and comforted with Christ he is so full of Virtue still when he can be refreshed and comforted with nothing else 't is the present experience of the Saints in this Age as well as in the
heart of Boaz inclined to her first he highly commends her for her pitching upon him that she would be satisfied with none but him v. 10. and then he promises her that he would grant her all her request v. 11. and then in the next chap. he doth solemnly Marry her So the Lord Jesus is inclinable and willing to Marry you Go and try if he be not Lye you at his feet beg earnestly that he would spread his Skirt over you see if he do not can you think that he is not willing when instead of your coming to woo Christ as Ruth here did Boaz Christ comes to woo you he would fain be your Saviour be your Husband he tells you so and all that when you have him you may have Rest and that it may be well with you which it never will till you have him Again Another Name by which this Freedom by Christ is set forth to shew the excellency of it is Health or Healing Isa 53. 5. With his stripes we are healed we get Health by them 't is all one with this Freedom here And Psal 67. 2. where this is prayed for that it might be manifested to the World and that the knowledg of Salvation by Christ might be spread all over the Earth as it was to be in the days of the Gospel 't is called Saving Health That thy way may be known upon earth thy saving health among all nations Now you all know what an excellent thing Health is some by the enjoying of it and some by the want of it this is such a mercy that whatever one hath besides yet if there be no Health with it all is imbittered it makes life it self burdensom and uncomfortable and tho ones condition in the World be but poor in other respects yet sometimes you shall hear people say but thanks be to God they have their Health tho and as long as they have that they may make the better shift Health beloved is more then a single mercy 't is a double treble yea a tenfold yea a hundredfold mercy because it helps us to take the comfort and taste the sweetness of all else what is all the World to a man that is very Sick or near to Death Health is such an excellent thing that no body can tell what to do without it 'T is an usual expression or cry with persons that have it not and are Sick and are in pain oh what shall I do and you know how they will be enquiring of this Neighbour and that which comes to visit them whether they can tell what they should take and they 'l send to the Physician and he must come and see them and tho he prescribes sharp or loathsom things yet they 'l take them they 'l Purge they 'l Vomit they 'l Bleed they 'l Sweat and all to have their Health again Well now this is the nature of this Freedom by Christ 't is Health if a man be Sick at his very heart 't will recover him if he be never so like to dye I mean by it if he be never so like to be damned which is the Second and the worst Death If he never so much faint away in his Spirits through the Anguish and Terror of a wounded Conscience yet this Freedom by Christ if he believes in it will fetch him again if he hath never so many sores this will bind him up There are some very observable things about Christs manner of healing while he was here upon Earth I would desire you to take much notice of them because the thing that we are to gather from it is what this same bealing Freedom by Christ will do 1. Observe That Christs manner of healing persons that were diseased was by touching he touched them and they touched him See Matth. 8. 3 15. There Christ touched them and in Mark 6. 56. There you find that they touched Christ now there is much to be learnt by this If you would have healing by Christ he must touch you by the finger of his Spirit for 't is spiritual healing that we are now speaking of and therefore the touch must be spiritual now both in him and you and you must touch him by the finger of Faith for you must have Faith to be healed See what a Question Christ put to the Blind men Matth. 9. vers 27. Two blind men followed him crying and saying Thou Son of David have mercy on us then v. 28. you have his Question Believe ye that I am able to do this And their Answer They said unto him Yea Lord. And what followed upon it you read afterwards vers 29 30. Then touched he their eyes saying According to your faith be it unto you And their eyes were opened So you have such and such spiritual diseases you have inward blindness and inward deafness and inward hardness but do you believe that Christ can heal you Doth not unbelief keep off the cure in you Do you touch him by Faith Christ and you as I said but now must touch one another that you may be healed He by his Spirit and you by your Faith Beloved this finger of the Spirit is such a thing that by it Christ can touch you tho you be upon Earth and on the other side this finger of Fath is such a thing that by it you can touch Christ tho he be in Heaven If Christ doth but send his Spirit to you it will tell you where you are it will find you out and it will give you such a touch as you 'l never forget and when Christ hath thus touched you he will help you to touch him he will work Faith in you by his Spirit Oh! look after these touches and don't think you are healed if Christ hath not touched you and you have not touched him 2. Observe that as they must touch him that would be healed so they were healed if they did but touch him Matth. 9. 20 21. Here is a great deal of comfort for weak believers Many a poor Soul is ready to think that because they have not Faith in that strength and growth and full assurance that some have therefore alas they shall get nothing from Christ do no good at all with that poor sorry staggering Faith of theirs Truly poor Soul I wish thy Faith were stronger but I tell thee if thou hast but a grain of true Faith tho it be never so weak if it be but true 't will bring thee a cure for 't will touch Christ if it be true tho never so small 3. Observe that as many as touched him were healed Mark 6. last words of the chapt He did not turn away one that did it he accepted of the weakest Faith there is not one that comes to Christ shall be refused 4. Observe that they who touched him were not almost healed by him but they were healed perfectly Matth. 14. 36. You that are the people of God you have yet a great many weaknesses and